What’s the difference between a Company and a Detachment?

Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 13:04:04 -0500

I’ve noticed that some units are designated as Companies and other are Detachments. From what I’ve seen, there seems to be a lot more detachments in MP and Aviation units than the rest of the Army. Do Detachment Commanders hold UCMJ authority, and what are the differences between the two organization types?

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 3 at 2021 1:09 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 13:09:10 -0500

A detachment is a part of a company. Some portion of their personnel and equipment are separated and they meet and train semi-independently of the parent company. The company commander retains responsibility and authority, but his people are located somewhere else. There are lots.of reasons for this, from budget, facility capacity, need to have a capability in various places,....

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Feb 3 at 2021 1:49 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 13:49:55 -0500

A detachment can be a slice from a larger unit or a unit that has a specific function like Finance. Commanders have UCMJ authority.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 3 at 2021 2:16 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 14:16:45 -0500

In my part of the world a detachment as someone has already stated is part of the company, I know many reserve units may have part of the company at another site. I was UA over a company that had 3 platoons at one reserve center and our 4 th platoon was at another reserve center. They even had G-5 rated UA to handle their day to day paper work.

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Feb 3 at 2021 2:23 PM

CPT Lawrence Cable — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 14:23:58 -0500

1SGT White gave a good explanation. As far as UCMJ, a detachment Commander can do a Summary Article 15, anything else would go to the Company CO or higher.
You can have company sized and larger detachments, depending on the organization of the unit.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Feb 3 at 2021 2:25 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 14:25:01 -0500

A detachment is a special group, sometimes from a company, doing special work. Yes they have a detachment Commander who normally has UMCJ authority- tho it could go back to their parent unit. CID has lots of detachments cause of how they are spread out.

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made Feb 3 at 2021 5:15 PM

SFC Casey O'Mally — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 17:15:54 -0500

Most detachments I have seen are part of a larger Company, as mentioned by the others. In most of these cases, the Company Commander retains UCMJ authority. However... that CO will almost always heed the advice of the Det Commander.

When I was in a Det in Florida, we had 7 Soldiers and a civilian Admin clerk. Our Det CDR was a MAJ, and so was our Company CDR - who was in AZ. We had our own supply room (I was the supply NCO as an additional duty), our own admin (civilian clerk) who processed the majority of S1 functions, our own operations office (I was the Ops NCO as an additional duty), and we used the local Air Force unit (with whom we were colacted and who we supported) for S2 issues.

Every month the Company sent us the list of who we needed to do urinalysis for, our list of items for 10% inventories (we took pictures and e-mailed them), and our list of mandatory online trainings. Permissions (like getting a second job or passes) mostly went through Det CDR, but leave had to go through CO (who always approved whatever Det CDR approved, but Det CDR didn't have authority to sign). Awards could go through either CO or supported AF unit (we were in joint billets). We never had to deal with UCMJ, however that would have had to go thru CO.

I say all that to say this - for the most part the Detachment is its own entity. However they still belong to the Company, and have to comply with Company Commander guidance and priorities. On the flip side, part of the CO's mission is to support the detachment, which means (in part) listening to the Det CDR and letting him/her perform their mission.

Response by LTC John Mohor made Feb 3 at 2021 7:50 PM

LTC John Mohor — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:50:57 -0500

The explanations provided cover it pretty well. When it comes to some higher ranking Detachments as well as temporary units some detachment commanders have full UCMJ authority. I was in three units that were an HHD instead of an HHC. Logistics sometimes causes it. I know of MP Detachments that were commanded by O-5/ LTC with only 10 personnel assigned. When I deployed to Iraq I was the XO, S-3 and S-6 Asa Major while serving with a LTC, SGM and two SSGs. We went over as advisors to the New Iraqi Army formed only for the deployment.

Response by LTC John Griscom made Feb 3 at 2021 9:56 PM

LTC John Griscom — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 21:56:03 -0500

A lot depends on the branch. Detachments may be pieces of units or standalone organizations.
I was HQ Detachment command for an evacuation hospital responsible for 200+ personnel.
It was larger than most company-size units. Some detachments vary from around five personnel and up.

Response by MAJ Matthew Arnold made Feb 4 at 2021 4:27 PM

MAJ Matthew Arnold — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 16:27:43 -0500

Back in the black boot army I commanded an aviation detachment in Europe. It was the 5th Aviation Detachment, III Corps (Forward), in Maastricht, The Netherlands. It was basically there to provide rotary wing general support to US and NATO units in that part of Europe. Since there were several high level headquarters in the area we were a UH-1 taxi service for generals and their accompanying group. We were not part of a company somewhere else. We had 3.5 UH-1s and an appropriate number of personnel. (I say 3.5 because we could get another UH-1 if needed.) It was a company command and I had full UCMJ authority. My rater was an O-6, not an aviator, not commander of an aviation battalion (this was not good but that's another story). I think the bottom line is that the army can do whatever the army wants to do.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Feb 5 at 2021 2:55 PM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:55:03 -0500

In general, an Army Company is a larger organization than a Detachment. Companies are around 150 Soldiers commanded by a Captain. A Detachment is a smaller organization. In the Army and Air Force a Detachment may be commanded by an officer. In the Army it might be commanded by a Warrant Officer. In the Air Force a Senior NCO (E-9) might be NCOIC of a Detachment with no officer at that geographical location. Some Detachments are permanent organizations with established manning structure, such as Air Force Weather Detachments. Other Detachments may be temporary task-organized set up for a specific mission, location, or time period. Detachments normally report to a parent organization such as a Company or Squadron. Sometimes to an Air Force Group or even a Major Command Headquarters depending on the mission requirements.